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Chapter Twelve: The Hoodie

"Found anything yet?" Bella asked and Rose shook her head. Maggie didn't keep anything that gave away who her boyfriend was. She had a small trinket box that she kept some shells in, a pair of headphones, some moisturiser, a small selection of makeup and that's all they'd managed to find so far.

"Wait," Rose said, pulling out a piece of fabric from the bottom of the box. She held it up and examined it. It was a hoodie - a Forks High School graduations hoodie from five years ago, the same time Rose and I graduated.

"This can't be Maggie's," Rose began. "She's two years younger than we are… and look at the size of this thing." Rose swished it around to prove her point. It was huge and from pictures, Maggie was a tiny person.

"Do you think it belonged to her boyfriend?" Rose asked.

"Who else would it belong to. She didn't have any family so it wouldn't be from her brothers… chances are it was her boyfriend's." Bella said.

"So whoever murdered Maggie graduated the same time as we did," Rose said quietly. Her mind ran through their graduating class.

Both were silent until Rose pulled her phone from her pocket. "I'm going to tell Jake we've found something."

Bella didn't like where this was going - the killer was getting closer and closer to them every day and the worst thing was that none of them knew who it was. It could be anyone - the builder comes in and gets a black coffee, no sugar every morning; the single dad who works two jobs to provide for his children or the woman who collects money for charity on the corner.

Rose ended her call to Jake. "He'll be over in a few hours; he's got someone applying for the waitress position."

Bella and Rose were both silent for a few minutes, thoughts running through their heads. The situation just seemed to be getting more complicated by the minute.

A few hours later, Jake arrived. "I would have come sooner but I was interviewing the new waitress?"

"She got the job?" Bella questioned and Jake nodded.

"Her name's Esme. She's really nice - only a few years older than us." Bella nodded and smiled. It would be nice to have some help at Black's. There were only three of them working as waitresses at the minute, Rose, Bella and Victoria. Victoria was… different. She was much more interested in flirting with men then doing her job. Her flaming red hair and piercing green eyes definitely attracted their attention.

"Interview go alright?" Rose asked as Bella and Jake walked into the kitchen, Jake flopping himself down in a chair.

"Yeah. I hired her. Her name's Esme and she's lovely."

"Will Victoria like her?" Rose asked remembering the last time Jake had tried to hire a new waitress. Victoria had bitched and whine so much that she left. Bella and Rose both suspected it was because the waitress was younger than Victoria and prettier.

Jake snorted. "It's Victoria, what do you think? Plus she has a kid… so you know, probably not." We all knew how Victoria felt about children - she wasn't their biggest fan. She hated serving them, hated cleaning up after them and hated any interaction she had to have with them.

"Well we can't wait to meet her," Bella said, letting Jake know she and Rose were excited about her arrival.

"You won't have to wait too long," Jake began. "She's working tomorrow so you'll get to see her then." Rose and Bella nodded as the doorbell rang.

Bella went to get it and was pleasantly surprised to see Edward. She had text him to let him know about the hoodie and he had responded by saying that he would most likely be coming over this evening but she thought it would have been later.

"Hi," she whispered as Edward pulled her into his arms, wrapping them around her waist and pulling her to his chest.

"Hi yourself," he whispered back before his lips descended onto hers in a sweet lingering kiss. Bella smiled when he retreated from her and tangled her hands in his coppery locks, pulling his lips back to hers.

They kissed sweetly and gently, their lips working each other over as they became reacquainted. Edward pulled away, his eyes staring into Bella's chocolate brown ones as his fingers began playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.

"Are you alright?" he questioned and Bella nodded.

"Come on," she told him, gently placing her hand in his and leading him through the front door and into the kitchen where Jake and Rose were.

"Hi Edward," Rose said cheerfully, sitting down on a chair next to Jake.

"Hello, Rosalie." He turned to Jake. "Jake." Both men nodded their heads in acknowledgement.

Bella and Rose rolled their eyes.

"So what have you found?" Jake asked, sitting back against the chair.

Bella reached across from where she was sitting with Edward to the counter where the hoodie had been neatly folded. "This."

She laid it out on the table and ran her hands over the few wrinkles that had creased the fabric. She was trying to be respectful.

Jake's eyes scanned over the dark grey of the hoodie. "Do you recognise it as anybody's?"

"Everyone got the same one," Rose told him.

"It narrows down the pool of suspects, so that's a good thing," Edward said. "Are you going to tell the police?"

Rose and Bella had discussed it. They'd made a list of the pros and cons and they knew they should tell the police, they grew up with an officer of the law. But he was competent and willing to listen. Officer Randall was not. He had his sights fixed firmly on Edward and Bella doubted anything they said or did would change his mind. Hell, he would probably accuse them of falsifying evidence.

"No - Officer Randall isn't your biggest fan and we really don't think he'd take too kindly to us interfering," Rose said.

"Stupid male pride," Jake muttered under his breath.

Rose gave a rather unladylike snort. "What about that time you tried to do a skateboarding trick when you were fourteen and broke your arm?" Heat flamed in Jake's face. "Bella and I told you not to but you didn't listen."

Bella smirked at the memory.

"That's different," Jake reasoned. "I was a teenager, teenagers are inherently stupid. Officer Randall is a grown man."

"He does seem to have prejudice towards vampires," Edward chimed in. "He was convinced a vampire killed those women. When I explained the signs said differently he said I wasn't being cooperative."

"He's just throwing his weight around," Bella soothed, placing her hand on Edward's arm. "According to Tyler his wife left him."

"About time," Rose commented snarkily. "Have you heard his thoughts?" She gave a shiver. "That guy is into some weird stuff!"